The Visit
A Deputy Head's experience...
Imagine everyone standing outside in their pre- rehearsed positions, studying the sky above. From seven, six, five miles away a droning noise can be heard, and the sound of it is building. The noise is growing into a unique "paddle-slapping" sound; a sound which can only be coming from a helicopter. It's getting louder and it's getting nearer.
Helicopters pass over school almost daily, but this time it's different, this one is lower and it's orbiting slowly around the school. It is turning towards you and you can see a light flashing, a light that you know is the pilot’s signal that he intends to land! Exciting? This is just the beginning.
Rushing wind, lots of noise, and then peace as the pilot cuts the engines and runs the rotors down to a stop.
The crewman invites everyone to assemble close to the machine and then begins a captivating talk using a 40ft long, £1.5M helicopter as his teaching aid! None of us had realised that helicopters were so big!
It's a Frisbee!...
The children learn where the machine has flown from and how long the journey took. They quickly grasp the benefits of point to point straight-line flight; no traffic jams up in the sky! Facts and figures for the older ones; awe and wonder for the youngest. Without getting too technical, the children learn that the spinning disc formed by the rotors can be compared with a Frisbee; they are all familiar with one of those. The pilot's job is to control that Frisbee.
IT'S FREE!
TO YOUR SCHOOL
Fun learning...
The children learn how he creates 'lift' and 'thrust' to overcome 'weight' and 'drag'. They are totally captivated as they learn such things as what age they need to be and how they can go about learning to fly. Who knows how many budding pilots have been inspired by this talk. They learn how high it goes, how fast it goes, how far it goes and how many people can be carried. Where does the luggage go and who uses helicopters. They learn that helicopters are not dangerous and that they are used to save hundreds of lives every year.
Smile please...
Half an hour passes, as in a moment, and we are into questions and answers. A flurry of eager hands up; it seems as though everyone wants to know more. The crew are patient and professional, nobody gets left out.
Now we are asked to clear the area for some class pictures to be taken, "bring your class back to us in height order and you’ll be amazed at how quickly we can do this" he says, and he's right! The whole school are through in about a quarter of an hour!
Time to go...
All too soon it's time for them to go. We gather together safely on the playground and that wonderful noise starts all over again. We are waving, they are waving, and the helicopter defies gravity and lifts into the sky. If ever I have seen excellence in teaching, combined with enjoyment in learning, it was in the last hour and a half, and we still have all the classroom activities to enjoy on their web site! I would recommend them to anyone. Do they really have a parachuting hamster?
S. M-J. Deputy Head
Stoke Park Infants. Hampshire.
